If wanting to see how far AI can truly be pushed, you need not look further than video games. Video games arguably pioneered AI techniques, long before the technology was being used in other industries. So it makes sense then that AI, even still today, is being pushed in the quest to make better video games than ever before.

These are some of the video games that made massive strides in AI development, pushing the technology to never before seen levels. It need not be mentioned that, for the most part, many of these games still stand as examples of AI being used to its full modern potential.

F.E.A.R

Although the first person shooter F.E.A.R was released in 2005, it is still widely regarded as having amongst the best AI in any game to date. It was the first game that implemented a system referred to as Goal Oriented Action Planning, meaning that enemies in the game were capable of far more than simply shooting blindly at the player, until either getting shot, or the player dying.

Instead enemies were designed to work together as a team, using advanced, on the fly techniques to achieve goals. For example, AI teammates could coordinate suppressing the player with fire, while a sneaky attacker flanked from an advantageous point.

Still, to this day, many games don’t come close to recreating this level of AI depth.

Alien: Isolation

The Xenomorph in Alien: Isolation is an AI masterpiece. A two tier AI system was developed to control the creature, a Macro AI and Director AI, which helped keep the game balanced but challenging. The Director AI made sure that the monster would seek the player out, but would also limit how much the player could be harassed at any time, keeping the game tense but fun.

The Macro AI controlled the creature itself, allowing it to explore the environment and look for signs of the player in a natural way. The monster is extremely aware of what it has to achieve at any given time, but is also sure to never cheat, according to the rules of the game. The two systems together are amongst the most detailed AI ever created for a game.

Black And White

Black And White and its sequel stand as some of the greatest AI achievements in any game ever made. The so called God Games challenged players with developing a village from the ground up, building houses, feeding villager, and otherwise keeping things going smoothly.

However, the player was given an AI helper in the form of a creature. By watching what the player did, the creature gradually learned how to be of assistance. After many hours of play, the creature would eventually have developed a distinct personality, either turning out to be helpful and friendly, or potentially a destructive force of chaos. It is an example of learning AI at its best, with clearly seen results that were nothing short of astonishing. As far as video games go, few have ventured as far into advanced learning AI territory as the Black And White games.